Wine Enthusiast Companies is pleased to announce a new events and membership partnership with the Association of African American Vintners (AAAV), a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of African American vintners, creating a strong community that shares knowledge and educational opportunities for BIPOC professionals, and expands diversity-driven outreach to wine consumers.
The joint AAAV/Wine Enthusiast events series titled AAAV Paths to Success: Wine Brand Founders will launch this month. Taking place throughout the next calendar year, the three-part series is geared to support and empower young and/or emerging BIPOC professionals in the wine space via virtual and in-person education, mentorship and networking opportunities.
“It is our goal to pave paths for young Americans of color to successful careers in an industry most of the founding and current members were not aware of as young people,” said AAAV president Phil Long. “We hope to create a more diverse canvas of color across all categories of the wine industry.”
The series’ first event, a free webinar featuring three successful African American winery founders, will take place on October 28, 2020 at 3 PM EDT. AAAV members Robin and Andrea McBride (founders, McBride Sisters Collection), Theodora Lee (founder and winemaker, Theopolis Vineyards) and Malek Amrani (founder and winemaker, The Vice Wine) will discuss their personal paths to owning and/or distributing their wine brands. The panel will be moderated by national television personality and wine aficionado Spencer Christian. The October discussion will be followed by a second webinar panel in Spring 2021 and the annual AAAV Summer Symposium in June 2021.
Wine Enthusiast also is partnering with the AAAV on a membership matching program to support growth in the AAAV community. Wine Enthusiast will be subsidizing AAAV membership fees by 50% for new members who would like to join. For details, visit the membership section of aaavintners.org.
“We are thrilled to be working with a partner like the Association of African American Vintners who shares our goals for promoting an increased awareness of diversity in the wine industry,” stated Co-Founder & Chief Brand Officer of Wine Enthusiast Companies Sybil Strum. “With these kinds of collaborative efforts, we hope to support lasting and impactful change and progress in all aspects of the wine world.”
To attend the October 28 webinar, please go to AAAV Paths to Success: Wine Brand Founders and sign up to attend. To join the social conversation surrounding this exciting partnership, follow @WineEnthusiast on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook and AAAV on Instagram and Facebook.
About Wine Enthusiast Companies
Founded in 1979 by Adam and Sybil Strum and comprised of Wine Enthusiast Catalog and Wine Enthusiast Media, Wine Enthusiast Companies is the ultimate source of innovation and information around wine. With custom product reaching millions of consumers globally via direct mail, a thriving e-commerce site and a business-to-business division, Wine Enthusiast Catalog provides everything wine lovers need to enjoy wine to the fullest in their homes. Wine Enthusiast Magazine is an award-winning print publication and online resource that showcases wine and food trends, enotravel, and over 25,000 ratings and reviews annually. Together, Wine Enthusiast Companies is the indisputable hub for everything wine. www.WineMag.com, www.WineEnthusiast.com
About AAAV
Founded in 2002, the Association of African American Vintners is a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of African American vintners, creating a strong community that shares knowledge and educational opportunities, and expanding outreach to wine consumers to encourage support of diversity in the wine industry.
The surge of awareness and support inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement has resulted in AAAV membership growth of more than 200%. It also fueled donations to the Black Winemaker Scholarship Fund, which AAAV developed in partnership with Urban Connoisseurs. United Negro College Fund will administer the scholarship, making two $5,000 awards each school year starting in 2020-21. AAAV also recently launched an online wine shop on the organization’s website, making member wines available to consumers in more than 40 states. Powered by VinoShipper, the new store offers the largest selection of African American wines for sale online.
Contacts:
Wine Enthusiast Media
Jen Cortellini: jcortellini@wineenthusiast.net
Association of African American Vintners
Tami Kelly: tamikellypr@gmail.com
925-640-9997